William Bateson English biologist, one of the founders of genetics, author of the term “genetics” (1907). Date of Birth: 08.08.1861 Country: Great Britain

Biography of William Bateson

William Bateson, an English biologist and one of the founders of genetics, was born on August 8, 1861, in Whitby. He conducted research on the phylogeny of chordates between 1884 and 1886. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, Bateson became a professor at the same university from 1908 to 1910. In 1905, he proposed the theory of "presence-absence," explaining the emergence of new traits in living organisms through the elimination of inhibitory factors.

In 1910, Bateson, together with his student R. Punnett, founded the journal "Journal of Genetics" in England, dedicated to genetics. From 1910, he served as the director of the Institute of Horticultural Research in Merton. He became a foreign member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1923. Bateson defended the idea of the impossibility of inheriting acquired traits, the discontinuous variation of organisms, and the doctrine of gamete purity.

In 1920, Bateson was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society of London. He passed away on February 8, 1926, in Merton, London.